


Stories for Monday

by brinkofgenius (nothingofnote)



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - X-Men Fusion, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-02
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-11-07 12:08:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17960219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nothingofnote/pseuds/brinkofgenius
Summary: post s3.16 auThere was one more address leaked. Though it didn't have a name or other details attached to it so Mac decides to check it out and finds more than he expected.





	Stories for Monday

Ariel sat up. There was someone in the house. Someone that wasn’t meant to be there. She sat up and reached for her glasses. Elbowing Alex awake as she did and managing to shush him at the same time. He went from sleepy to alert within seconds. Exchanging everything they needed to without words. Which was a tell of just how long they’d been together. She patted Alex’s chest as she stood up, grabbing a dressing gown off the back of a chair to throw on over her pyjamas as she quietly opened the bedroom door.

She found the intruder halfway up the stairs, peering at the photos that lined the wall of the staircase, using the torch on his phone to see them better. 

“I wouldn’t think about stealing those if I were you.” The light was aimed at her then went off. “Didn’t expect me, huh.”

“Mom?”

Ariel’s heart could have stopped then. That voice. Of course she recognised him instantly. Calling her that. He didn’t know the truth. He didn't know how that hurt her.

“Try again.” She regained some composure. Arms folded still. If Alex was next to her right then he’d be reminding her that she needed to breathe and she’d be trying to break his hand by gripping it so tight. Instead she turned on the landing light. And seemed to regret it. It was still the middle of the night and she would quite like to have been asleep next to her husband.

“Um, Aunt Ariel?” 

“Hi kiddo.” She smiled at, what was he calling himself, Mac? He’d always be her Angus. He was of course far too old for being called kiddo, affectionately or not but that didn’t stop her. “Let’s go make some tea and you can tell me why you’re breaking in to my house.” She stopped and turned back. "One second." She headed back to the bedroom, poking her head round the door. Mac could hear her telling someone, he guessed his uncle, to go back to sleep.

"Is that Uncle Alex?"

"Yeah, he'll see you in the morning. You are going to stay aren't you?"

Mac nodded. He wasn't sure that he had that much of a choice, as long as he could remember people didn’t exactly go saying no to aunt Ariel. He'd heard enough of the stories about her. "I need to make a call though."

"Probably best, don't need anyone turning up to rescue you. The neighbours will start to talk." Ariel smiled and led the way down the stairs to the kitchen. "They already do that about us as it is. Don’t need to give them anything new.” He left her putting the kettle on for tea to make a call back to the Phoenix. The time difference making it close to midnight back in LA. He quickly sent off a text as well explaining instead of waking more people up. Saying that he’d be back in a couple of days. Riley and Bozer would at least know he was safe and if anyone asked he was visiting family. Which was at least true now.

He quietly came back into the kitchen as Ariel was steeping the tea.

“So, you gonna tell me why I found you on the stairs? Or do I have to guess?” She leaned against the counter top.

“I can’t tell you.”

“Actually you can.” Ariel sighed. She hated to admit it. More so she hated pulling rank. The CIA clearance had come from years ago and James had given her Phoenix clearance, mostly to keep her quiet. Mac was beginning to wonder just how much he didn’t know about his family. “James never told you? Figures.” Well, not exactly. Ariel’s opinion of her brother in law wasn’t the greatest and that didn't help it. It was just something that made things little more complicated. “But that’s a story for another time. Just know you aren't going to get into trouble.” Another reason she was probably going to have to be restrained when she saw James, the list was getting longer. “So, we’ll try again. Why did I find you on my stairs? It’s bad enough I don’t see you for years then you turn up in the middle of the night.” Mac was watching her manage to set out tea things without second glance at what she was doing with her hands. She was watching him watching her.

“Because your address was posted along with details about my team.”

Ariel swore and nearly knocked over her cup as she turned to face Mac as she reached for the milk, which ended only in spilling tea onto her hand that led to more swearing then an apologetic smile and quickly trying to sort out the mess.

“Just this address or were there any more?” That was important. She loved her home that she’d built with Alex but photographs on the wall and the things inside could be moved, the memories no one could take away. What she couldn’t stand the idea of was putting her friends back in danger. Different to the kind they usually found themselves involved in. Most importantly something they hadn’t asked to be involved in.

“Just this address. When no one recognised it I decided that I should see what it was.” Mac looked at his cup. “I wasn’t expecting this.”

Ariel reached out and put her hand on Mac’s arm. “It’s not okay but we’ll find some way of dealing with it.” She nearly added they’ve been through worse. Much worse than that but she settled on patting his arm and looking thoughtful. “We always make do. When you’re done with your tea I’ll show you to the guest room.” Which wasn’t the guest room at all, it was Scott’s room when he came to stay but that was too complicated for 3am. Once more she wished she was asleep. Maybe she was finally getting old. 

They sat in a comfortable silence until they finished the tea. 

“So who are the people in the photographs?” Mac finally broke the silence as they headed back upstairs.

“You have your team. We have ours. There’s also the kids I’ve taught.” Trying to distract him away from looking too closely at the photos. 

“You were a teacher?”

“Still am. Chemistry. Physics. Just high school science.” She enjoyed it and it meant that she could spend time in a place she felt safe. She opened the door to the room, it still somehow seemed that it had an air of teenagers room mess, it was probably all the posters still stuck to the walls. “But we can talk more in the morning. Make yourself comfy and get some sleep while you can.” She paused to leave him. “Sleep well sweetie.” Closing the door behind her, Ariel headed back to her own room. 

Alex was sat up, resting against the headboard as she closed the bedroom door behind her. He watched her take off the dressing gown and lifted the covers so she could get in bed beside him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her to him. Chin on the top of her head as she pressed her cheek to his chest. "We're going to figure this out." He told her.

**Author's Note:**

> This has been bugging me for a few weeks. It all started from a conversation about what if Mac's mom wasn't dead, which became what would happen if he had to be given up as a baby to keep him safe. That then spiralled into this.


End file.
